KUCHING: The Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB) has no reason to not perform and deliver for rural Sarawakians.
According to Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom, the department presently has 1,600 employees across the state, plus the assurance that the government would give its full support to JBALB in terms of funding.
“You have 1,600 workers now and there should be no complaint about shortage of manpower. You say you don’t have the manpower, we provide you with the manpower.
“You say you don’t have the funds, we provide you with the funds. So now you have to deliver and prove to us that you can do it,” he spoke at JBALB’s Chinese New Year open house at its office in ST3 here yesterday.
Dr Rundi pointed out that the rural people of Sarawak would want to see transformation in water supply.
He also expressed his hope that through more efforts, there would be ‘less and less negative publicity on newspapers’ regarding water issues in the state.
He said JBALB should also work on establishing a piping database and mapping to deliver quality services to the rural community.
“The irony in Malaysia is that we have many rivers, rainforests and dams but in some places, the taps are dry.
“When I was in Lawas recently, the Penghulu there showed me a glass of ‘Milo’ water (indication of water contamination), which was the result of a broken pipe,” he pointed out, adding that the water supply there (Lawas) was temporarily affected due to the broken pipe.
Dr Rundi opined that the community would not be furious with water supply issues if the department had come forward and explained the problem to them.
“Do not feel shy to explain and clarify to the people because one incident a day will last very long in memory. And we should all try to minimise any shortcomings.”
Dr Rundi also called upon the department to always respond to public complaints.
“If you do not explain and respond, people are going to think that problems occur due to our negligence. I know some piping (systems) are old – maybe even older than some of us here – but we are trying our level best to address the situation.
Dr Rundi added that the state government had been striving for the reputation of having ‘the best water management in Malaysia’.
Earlier, permanent secretary to the ministry Dato Alice Jawan said JBALB recently underwent transformation to help the water industry ‘achieve a new era’.
She said the department ought to work on more initiatives in order to be known as an agency that ‘cares for the community’.
“It is very important for each and every one of us to play our part towards making our services better,” she pointed out.
The event was also attended by JBALB director Chang Kuet Shian.